Childhood memories of wanting to be a doctor, Part II

We recently asked doctors on SERMO to share with us some of their childhood memories of wanting to become a doctor when they grew up. It turns out that many of them knew from a young age that this was their calling! We compiled some of our favorite member comments, and shared several of them already in Part I of a 2-part series. Today we’re pleased to share Part II:

“I did my schooling in a nun-operated school. From my elementary years I wanted to serve human beings: I wanted to be a nun!!!! Then one day I read a book from Albert Camus about a physician who served in Africa during the WW, and I became fascinated by his work. So medicine for me became a mission before I was even 12 years old.” – A family practitioner in Canada

“In grade 12, back in Africa. I had severe Pruritus after taking Choloroquine for malaria for the first time in my life. I was self medicating myself and just kept on popping more Quine for the fever. It never crossed my mind that the Chloroquine was the cause of my itchy skin. It was not until I saw a Doctor who stopped the Quine and changed to a different medication that my body itch that had driven me insane for many weeks stopped. That did it for me.My interest for Medicine started from there!” – An oncologist in Canada

“It was only ever doctor, priest or bus driver, since I was about six years-old. (I guess all the ‘authority’ figures you see as a child). I recall seeing the doctor making house calls in his big car and doctor’s bag which contained everything to save a life in my young eyes (like an encyclopaedia containing all the knowledge in the world). What struck me most, and what I carried through into my own career as a doctor, was the degree of professionalism the doctor showed. He wasn’t impassive but nothing ever surprised him or made him panic. He was empathetic but also direct and concise in his actions.” – A pediatrician in Australia

“For reasons that still elude me in their entirety, I never imagined myself as being anything except a Physician, from probably 4 or 5 years old. I think in hindsight that I pursued it for the ‘wrong’ reasons – but stayed in it for the ‘right’ ones. An intelligent but insecure child, I was also very hard-working and compassionate – and I think that I subconsciously probably wanted to be ‘seen’ and validated as being such by others (most especially my Father). And Medicine was the hardest, most respected, and seemingly most altruistic career I knew of at that young age… For some reason I never thought of Astronaut as an option – which is probably for the best, as I don’t think I would’ve made the cut!” – An emergency medicine doctor in Canada